Division of Labor on a Comp Team

We also have a 3 man team and after a few events, the jobs just sort of work themselves out. Our meats all take participation from 2 or 3 members, so splitting didn't work for us. We didn't intentionally split anything up, it just worked out how it worked out.

We have 2 main guys, and a third that helps with cleanup and whatever else needs to be done. We mostly work in tandem with all the meats, but we also each always do a certain item, for example, my teammate always trims the brisket and always assembles the boxes. I always prep the chicken and choose which meat goes in the box.

We are a 2 man team. We equally do the prep with each having specific jobs. In the morning I man the smoker while he builds the boxes. We have learned how to divide things at night so we can each get 5-6 hours of sleep or down time.

3 man team, each handle our own meats. I do chicken and pork so I have a break during rib turn in. In regards to all the other labor that is needed, we just kind of worked things out over the years and have divided up what each person does. The most important thing is to find what works for you and make sure you guys can actually function together. We have had other teammates in the past where it seemed like all we did was work against each other the entire set up and break down times.

My wife puts the greens in the box, she mashes the button on the wench, and does most of the dishes, I do everything else.

I have one main guy who helps me out at nearly every contest and a couple random buddies who will show up. I do the main work and they assist. They have been around it enough to know the drill. It works well.

Ron_L said:

You have a wench and a wife? :thumb:

:becky:

Click to expand...

That's the kind of BBQ team I need to be part of.

I try to split up the responsibilities but haven't figured out how to split up the costs!

We are a team of two...myself and my wife Rhana. She is in charge of rubs, sauces, boxes, prepping chicken and ribs, and final finishing of our turn in boxes. I maintain the gear, trim pork and brisket, and do all the cooking. We both share cleanup and load in/out duties.

I have cooked mostly on teams of mixed members for 3 years now.

Each cook will cook one or more categories as agreed upon before the contest.
Each cook is responsible for their portion of the entry fee, purchase their own meats, and bring everything they need to cook their entry and any food or drink for themselves and their assistances.
Other items that are common use, prior agreements are need on who will bring and provide what. These can include smokers, tents, campers, wash station, tables, even dinner Friday night and breakfast Saturday morning.
This doesn't mean you are a 4 cook team with 4 of everything. Common sense comes into play. A team works together, not against each other.
When boxing we work together, but the cook's turn-in is his and his along, he has final say of what goes in the box, how it looks, etc.
If a cook gets a walk, the whole team goes together to accept the award, but the award/cash are the cooks to keep.
If the team gets the Grand or Reserve or other place that pays out the prize money is split evenly in accordance to the entries each cook was responsibility. The Grand/Reserve trophy goes to the head cook unless he/she declines and passes it down.
Each cook is reasonable to tip-out to his non-cook assistances better know as hang-a- rounders.

^^^^^That would drive me nuts^^^.
Lulu and I pull in and set up together (20 minutes). The only thing she does before turnins is make the boxes. I do everything else.
At turnin time she has everything at my fingertips (like a dentist and his asst) and chose what ribs to put in the box.
After turnins she ussually tells me everything I did wrong and argue while were packing up (30-40 minutes).







Then go to awards.........and ussually argue a little more!:blah:

Damn I love her though!!!

I agree with the others that you need to just see what works for your personalities. Some people enjoy prepping and cooking meats, while others don't want the responsibility and would prefer to just help with other stuff.

We have a three man team and we each have our own designated duties that we do the same each contest. We find that this keeps us on track and we know what our responsibilities are and are less likely to mess something up that way. I am the pit master and handle all the major responsibilities, my husband is my right hand man and makes decisions on what pieces go in the box, and our third member runs the fire and boxes. It works great for us, but that is our system.

My wife is in charge! I just work here....

We are a husband/wife team which I think is pretty different than swineguy's team demographic. The husband/wife setup is normally (yes I'm sure there are exceptions) different than a team comprised of 2-4+ people who each have very direct responsibility or own category to handle. I always like hearing how the multi friend teams are setup and operate.

Most (yes again there are exceptions/variations) husband/wife setups seem to be the guy does most of the primary cooking and the wife is the right-hand "woman" assisting with anything their guy needs and providing feedback on the food going into the box and they garnish the boxes. I do have the final say on all the food, but do listen to feedback given. The "my wife truly runs the show" doesn't apply to us and she understands :-D. And I don't mean that in a chauvinistic way, but that is just how we operate. Whereas a setup like the OP there are more moving parts/variations to how multiple people teams operate together, again which always interests me. Mostly because I don't think I could ever not cook everything. I think I would lose my mind if I didn't have control over all the categories or see something I didn't agree with and my feedback could be negated/ignored :becky:.

JD McGee said:

We are a team of two...myself and my wife Rhana. She is in charge of rubs, sauces, boxes, prepping chicken and ribs, and final finishing of our turn in boxes. I maintain the gear, trim pork and brisket, and do all the cooking. We both share cleanup and load in/out duties.

Click to expand...

And very successful at it I might add. JD you and Rhana are a class act. And some of the best cooks/people I have ever met.